'A large, ribbon-shaped lake may be hiding beneath the ice that covers Antarctica, and it may contain countless life forms – unlike any others on earth – that have been trapped, undisturbed, in the frozen continent for millions of years.

Scientists presented radar data that suggest the presence of the lake at the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna last week.

The lake, presumed to be lying in a massive canyon system along the continent’s eastern coast in Princess Elizabeth Land, is thought to be 87 miles long and 12 miles wide – much smaller than Lake Vostok, which at 160 x 30 miles is Antarctica’s largest subglacial lake.'

'... If the existence of the lake and the channels is confirmed, as Siegert expects, he says it will be a major boost for Antarctic science and for research on subglacial lakes.

Just 100 kilometres from the nearest research base – a stone’s throw on Antarctic scales – the new lake is far more accessible than others such as Lake Vostok, which is very remote.

That, says Siegert, should make it far easier to conduct vital investigations into the biology of the lake, to find out if it supports species unlike any others on the planet.

“It’s really nice to see some new techniques for revealing the characteristics of the last ‘pole of ignorance’,” says Christine Dow, of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the US. “The potential discovery of large canyons and lakes could have a big impact on our understanding of tectonic and hydrological evolution in this part of the ice sheet.”...'

A new technique for making artificial molecules in the lab has been developed by researchers in Switzerland, and it opens up the possibility of new micro-robots and other microscopic structures being produced for a specific task - such as delivering medicine into targeted areas in the body - in a way that closely mimics the body's natural processes.